Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun and his rival during the March 18 2023 gubernatorial election, Ladi Adebutu, have exchanged brickbats over the performance of the present administration in the last five years in office.
Abiodun and Adebutu are Iperu-Remo brothers divided by ambition and politics.
During the last election, Abiodun, who was declared the winner by the state returning officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Kayode Adebowale, polled 276,298 votes to defeat Adebutu who scored 262,383.
But the PDP’s candidate rejected the results on the allegations of malpractices and challenged it at the Ogun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Abeokuta.
He alleged, among others, that the poll was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Adebutu lost out in the bid to overturn Abiodun’s victory at the Tribunal, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court as all the courts declared Abiodun as validly elected as Ogun Governor. They laid the matter to rest.
One year after Abiodun was sworn in for a second term, the two Iperu brothers resumed a ‘war of words’
Adebutu first threw the salvo penultimate Friday, berating Governor Abiodun’s infrastructural projects and describing it as a show of diminished leadership acumen.
The PDP chieftain expressed displeasure over the recent road commission in Ogun at Odogbolu Local Government and compared it to Oyo State commissioning which saw over 77 kilometres of road, including the construction of roads in a virgin land.
He said he felt ashamed to have come from the same hometown as the governor.
“We were in Ogbomoso… the extent of the infrastructure development by the PDP government of Governor Seyi Makinde is an example to the whole nation.
“If all the federating states play their role actively, there will be less emphasis on the centres and that is the way it should be. PDP is PDP.
“I was in Oyo state, PDP governor commissioned a state road of about 77km. It was not the surfacing or existing road, he actually went and did urban and rural development at the same time.
“He creates roads on virgin lands, but my own brother from my own town in Iperu, now puts band sets on the road, and he was commissioning a resurface and expanded road of a few kilometres.
“Now, compare that person, that person of APC, compare to what happened yesterday in Oyo State, that is the difference between APC and PDP.
“We understand governance, we are transparent and we are able to do well despite that the resource in Oyo State is relatively, comparatively small to what we have in Ogun State.
“I feel ashamed, I covered my eyes because Dapo is from the same place that I am and he shows his diminished acumen,” he said.
” My brother from my town in Iperu, he now put bands on the road, that he was commissioning a resurface and expanded road or a baby of a few kilometres”.
The governor, while speaking during his 64th Birthday and 5th year thanksgiving Service in Abeokuta, mildly responded to Adebutu, saying he had learnt to ignore people who bark when they are no longer in the spotlight.
However, a strongly worded statement signed by Abiodun’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, took Adebutu to the cleaners, describing him as a certified indolent and overfed brat, who lacked the mental capacity to access his (Abiodun) performance in office.
“Obviously, no right-thinking individual with a sound mind could just wake up on the wrong side of his bed and start discrediting what the global community is applauding from all fronts. While we understand the limitations of Oladipupo Adebutu as a certified indolent and overfed brat, we never realized his mannerless tendency had grown to this level of nuisance.
“Adebutu antecedents are majorly rooted in the life of recklessness and uncontrollable verbal diarrhoea, with no single achievement except the free money of his octogenarian father.”
“We hereby advise Adebutu to concentrate on his criminal case in court and face it squarely while it is necessary for him to go for rehabilitation after facing the full wrath of the law on his atrocities,” he said.
A few hours after Abiodun’s comments, Adebutu responded via a statement by his media aide, Afolabi Orekoya.
The PDP chief accused the governor of being a beneficiary of his family’s wealth on different occasions.
“Mr Dapo Abiodun described Hon Oladipupo Adebutu as an “overfed brat” because of his family’s wealth, while we thank God for His grace and blessings upon the Adebutu family, we need to also remind Mr Abiodun that he has also at different times been a beneficiary of the Adebutu family’s wealth he is now mocking,” he said.
However, pundits say the renewed brickbats are a pointer to what is to come ahead of the next governorship election in the state.